Three Kingdoms And Parable Of Workers In The Vineyard

[thatjimguy]

I was thinking about this just a bit ago. Maybe I am not the first to think of it. 

 

The Parable of the workers in the vineyard is about those who get to God, but don't reach it at the same time as the others do, yet receive the same reward anyway.

 

Could this be parallel to the ideas of the Three Kingdoms? The people who make it to the Celestial Kingdom in this life are the early workers. The ones who show up at noon are like those that go to the Terrestrial Kingdom. Finally, those who are in the Telestial Kingdom are the one who show up an hour before quitting time. 

 

The parable is about everyone getting the same reward as long as they finally show up. Could it be that we could look back on the lower two kingdoms and find that no one is there?

 

I find it funny because of the way it fits (three kingdoms, three sets of workers). 

[teddyaware]

I was thinking about this just a bit ago. Maybe I am not the first to think of it. 

 

The Parable of the workers in the vineyard is about those who get to God, but don't reach it at the same time as the others do, yet receive the same reward anyway.

 

Could this be parallel to the ideas of the Three Kingdoms? The people who make it to the Celestial Kingdom in this life are the early workers. The ones who show up at noon are like those that go to the Terrestrial Kingdom. Finally, those who are in the Telestial Kingdom are the one who show up an hour before quitting time. 

 

The parable is about everyone getting the same reward as long as they finally show up. Could it be that we could look back on the lower two kingdoms and find that no one is there?

 

I find it funny because of the way it fits (three kingdoms, three sets of workers).

In this parable, though some arrive at the place of labor earlier than others, all receive the same reward at the end of the day because all demonstrate equal faithfulness, loyalty and diligence in serving their Lord and master. Therefore the message of this parable is more rightly suited to an interpretation that the faithful laborers in the story will inherit exaltation in the celestial kingdom because those who inherit the celestial kingdom will receive a greater measure heavenly reward than will the less faithful inheritors of the terrestrial or telestial kingdoms.

 

In addition, it must be understood that most of those who inherit the telestial kingdom of glory will only be able to do so after being thrust down to hell so that they might be exposed to the consequences of their folly and thereby learn how to have faith in the Lord and repent. By no means do the inheritors of the telestial kingdom demonstrate the same degree of faithfulness, loyalty and diligence in serving the Lord as do the inheritors of the celestial kingdom, because it is only after severe punishment that the inheritors of telestial glory finally learn through suffering how to have faith and repent.

104 These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth.

105 These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.

106 These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work;

107 When he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying: I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

108 Then shall he be crowned with the crown of his glory, to sit on the throne of his power to reign forever and ever.

109 But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore;

110 And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever;

111 For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared;

112 And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. (D&C 76)

Edited June 18, 2014 by teddyaware

[Rob Osborn]

My opinionis that the parable doesn't jive with he three world model.

[ERayR]

This parable is not about kingdoms but rather about accepting the gospel.  It  doesn't matter when you accept it, early or late, the rewards are the same.

[strappinglad]

The parable of the vineyard has to do with pre- reward time. There is the person who lives a Christlike life and serves faithfully for 90 years, the person who finds Christ in his 40s and serves faithfully for 50 years and the person who finds Christ and serves faithfully for 2 years when he is hit by a bus. The parable then says they get the same reward. And that is true. They all get eternal life. They all get the Celestial Kingdom. The other Kingdoms are reserved for those who worked occasionally and/or grumbled about it the whole time, or were invited to work in the vineyard and procrastinated or outright refused.

[danielwoods]

I find it funny because of the way it fits (three kingdoms, three sets of workers). 

 

Sets of workers:

 

1) First thing in the morning (v1)

2) 9 AM   (v3)

3) Noon   (v5)

4) 3 PM   (v5)

5) 5PM    (v6)

 

I read that there were 5 groups of workers in Matt. 20, not 3. 

[Rob Osborn]

The parable of the vineyard has to do with pre- reward time. There is the person who lives a Christlike life and serves faithfully for 90 years, the person who finds Christ in his 40s and serves faithfully for 50 years and the person who finds Christ and serves faithfully for 2 years when he is hit by a bus. The parable then says they get the same reward. And that is true. They all get eternal life. They all get the Celestial Kingdom. The other Kingdoms are reserved for those who worked occasionally and/or grumbled about it the whole time, or were invited to work in the vineyard and procrastinated or outright refused

I have always interpreted the parable as Christ finding the lost sheep to come back to his vineyard and some find it right away while others do not and some may even hold out for some other thing but then find no happiness in that and come at the last hour back to the fold. They all enter back in the same manner and as such will all receive the same reward in eternity. The reward- immortality and eternal life. Glory is another thing.

[Rivers]

I think is the main purpose of the parable is to convey God's infinite mercy and compassion. I think it jives very well with the concept of progression between kingdoms of glory.

I know Elder McConkie certainly would not have had this interpretation. Does anybody know what he had to say about this parable?

[The Nehor]

It can be a hard lesson for many faithful to learn. It fits in with the prodigal son saying to his father that he never got so much as a lamb while the late returner got lots of fatted calves. The father does not correct him. Some blessings are distributed unevenly.

Some will bear the "heat of the day" and some will slip in at the last minute into the gospel. It is a hard reminder to some that their greater sacrifices may not lead to a greater reward. Of course since the reward is infinite it is hard to improve on it.

[VideoGameJunkie]

I wonder where I will go every day.

[The Nehor]

I wonder where I will go every day.

Ask.

[strappinglad]

Ask.

Actually he should demand that he be let into the kingdom and start a petition to that effect. But I digress.

[amo]

There are those who boast a 2nd or 3rd or + generation membership in the church : "I've been a member of the church all my life", " I'm a 2nd generation member of the church", etc., so, because of it,  I know better, or, because of it I'm holier than you are... This parable seems to have been written for those "senior saints".

 

Amo

[The Nehor]

There are those who boast a 2nd or 3rd or + generation membership in the church : "I've been a member of the church all my life", " I'm a 2nd generation member of the church", etc., so, because of it,  I know better, or, because of it I'm holier than you are... This parable seems to have been written for those "senior saints".

 

Amo

 

I'm sixth generation. Those plebes will not be worthy to lick my boots in the world to come.

[Tiki]

I'm sixth generation. Those plebes will not be worthy to lick my boots in the world to come.

I understand Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were converts.

[The Nehor]

I understand Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were converts.

 

Making them moral and spiritual degenerates.

[Ahab]

I was thinking about this just a bit ago. Maybe I am not the first to think of it.

The Parable of the workers in the vineyard is about those who get to God, but don't reach it at the same time as the others do, yet receive the same reward anyway.

Could this be parallel to the ideas of the Three Kingdoms? The people who make it to the Celestial Kingdom in this life are the early workers. The ones who show up at noon are like those that go to the Terrestrial Kingdom. Finally, those who are in the Telestial Kingdom are the one who show up an hour before quitting time.

The parable is about everyone getting the same reward as long as they finally show up. Could it be that we could look back on the lower two kingdoms and find that no one is there?

I find it funny because of the way it fits (three kingdoms, three sets of workers).

If our Lord knew how badly you are misinterpreting his parable he would roll over in his grave, if hr was still there.

[ERayR]

I'm sixth generation. Those plebes will not be worthy to lick my boots in the world to come.

 

A fellow blue blood. 

[BCSpace]

Matthew 20:1–16. The Parable of the Laborers

A common practice in Jesus’s day was for landowners to go to a central gathering place and hire temporary laborers. In this parable the householder went into the marketplace at about 6:00 a.m. and hired laborers to work for a “penny” (or denarius, which was a typical day’s wages). He returned to the marketplace at 9:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. (the eleventh hour), found other unemployed men who were willing to work, and hired them, promising to pay them “whatsoever is right” (Matthew 20:4, 7).

It would have been unusual to pay first those who had worked the least (see Matthew 20:8 ). However, this parable is an extension of what Jesus Christ taught in Matthew 19:30: “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Those hired in the eleventh hour might represent those who become converted late in life but thereafter labor diligently in the kingdom. One truth this parable illustrates is that whether people become disciples of Christ in their youth, in their young adulthood, in the later stages of life, or in some instances in the spirit world (see D&C 137:7–8 ), eternal life is the reward for all people who make and keep sacred covenants with the Lord (see D&C 76:95; 84:38; 88:107).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland offered these additional lessons from this parable of the laborers:

“This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.

“… However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.

“… There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning.

“… His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there.

“So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time” (“The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 32–33).

 

https://www.lds.org/manual/new-testament-student-manual/introduction-to-matthew/chapter-7?lang=eng

 

Edited June 19, 2014 by BCSpace

[thatjimguy]

If our Lord knew how badly you are misinterpreting his parable he would roll over in his grave, if hr was still there.

 

 

Sheesh. It was just a thought. 

 

In addition, it must be understood that most of those who inherit the telestial kingdom of glory will only be able to do so after being thrust down to hell so that they might be exposed to the consequences of their folly and thereby learn how to have faith in the Lord and repent. By no means do the inheritors of the telestial kingdom demonstrate the same degree of faithfulness, loyalty and diligence in serving the Lord as do the inheritors of the celestial kingdom, because it is only after severe punishment that the inheritors of telestial glory finally learn through suffering how to have faith and repent.

 

Right, they finally learn. Behind of everyone else in line...but they eventually get there. 

 

It could be said that everyone deserves lesser glory...however...in the parable, dont the workers truly deserve less reward?

[The Nehor]

It could be said that everyone deserves lesser glory...however...in the parable, dont the workers truly deserve less reward?

 

Fortunately no one gets what they deserve or we would all be screwed.

[Bart Burk]

God's going to do what He is going to do ... Jesus, I trust in you.